Hide and Seek
by CrimzieLightwood
Summary: "Aw, come on! I was only hiding for one minute. Did you count to thirty?" Aedion crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow cocked at her. Aelin knew clearly what he was insinuating. "Yes, Aedion. I counted to thirty and I didn't cheat," Aelin said as backed up from the bush. Aedion stepped out, shaking the stray leaves out of his hair. "Whatever. Did you find Elide?"


"I found you!"

Aelin peered down into the bush. She quickly pulled back before Aedion's head collided with hers as he jumped up from his crouching position.

"Aw, come on! I was only hiding for one minute. Did you count to thirty?" Aedion crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow cocked at her. Aelin knew clearly what he was insinuating.

"Yes, Aedion. I counted to thirty and I didn't cheat," Aelin said as backed up from the bush.

Aedion stepped out, shaking the stray leaves out of his hair. "Whatever. Did you find Elide?"

"No, not yet. I went looking for you first because you suck at hiding,"

"I do not!" Aedion scoffed.

"Oh, my dear cousin, yes, you do,"

Aedion rolled his eyes. "Go find Elide now,"

"I will," Aelin snapped, walking off to search.

_Where would Elide hide? _Elide's a tricky one to find. She's usually very quiet, but Aelin knew behind that shy mask was a brilliant mind. _Where could she possibly be?_ Aelin checked the library first, figuring Elide could blend into the shadows with her dark hair and silent atmosphere. The adults only allowed them to hide in certain room, which they called the approved rooms. Everywhere else was off-limits. When she didn't find her, she moved onto the kitchen. But yet again, she did not find her. Next she checked Elide's bedroom, the stables, the washrooms, the dining room, and the ball room. One by one, Aelin checked the approved rooms. _Okay, this is getting a little worrisome._ What if someone took her? Aelin shook her head. _Impossible. There's still one more place that I haven't checked._ Aelin moved quickly.

As Aelin ran through the garden, she could feel the fear pushing on her every minute she didn't find Elide. Aelin was ready to burst into tears when she spotted Aedion walking up the steps that lead to a servants entrance.

"Aedion!" she called, running to meet him.

Aedion turned at his name and, seeing Aelin, met her at the base of the stairs. "Did you find her?"

"No! I-I can't find her anywhere!"

Aedion rubbed the back of his neck. "She has to be somewhere, Aelin. She can't just disappear,"

"I swear, Aedion, I have looked EVERYWHERE,"

"The stables?"

"Yes,"

"The kitchen?"

"Yes,"

"The library?"

"Yes,"

"Her room?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I told you, I went to all the approved rooms and I didn't find her!"

"Maybe you didn't look hard enough." At this, Aelin was near ready to slap him. "Here, I'll help you,"

Aelin repeated her searching process, starting with the garden, this time with Aedion. They had just finished the last of the approved rooms and now wound up in the hallway.

"Wow, she's… really good…" Aedion said quietly. His stance showed him thinking but when he looked at Aelin, she could see he was starting to get worried.

"Aedion," Aelin whispered. "I don't think she's hiding. I mean, what if someone took her?"

"That's ridiculous. The castle is one of the most secure places in the world!"

"I know, but-" Aelin cut off as something by the curtain caught her eye.

"Aelin?" Aedion said, watching her walk towards the curtain and bend to pick something up. Aedion couldn't see what. "What is it?"

When she didn't answer he persisted. "Aelin, what-"

"Her bow." She whispered. "It's her bow…"

"That-that doesn't mean anything," he replied shakily.

"She was taken," Aelin burst out into tears.

"It's okay, Aelin," he said, moving towards her.

"No, it's not! It's my fault! If I didn't suggest we play hide and seek then she would've been in the castle, safe!"

"That's not true." He hissed. "It's not your fault,"

Aelin cried harder now.

After some time, Aedion whispered, "You know what we have to do, right?"

Aelin looked up through teary eyes, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"We have to go to her parents,"

The tears came on again. "They're going to hate me,"

"They're not going to hate you,"

"Yes, they will! I lost their daughter!"

"That's enough, Aelin! We can either stand around doing nothing or we can help her,"

Aelin nodded and when she was calm enough, Aedion led her towards the Lochan family's tower. They found Elide's mother, Marion, in their tower's den.

Marion looked up from her book. "Yes?"

She stood up when she noticed the tear streaks down Aelin's cheeks. "Dear, what's wrong?"

"I… I'm so sorry," Aelin cried.

"Sorry? For what?"

Aelin kept crying. Marion moved closer.

She turned to Aedion. "Aedion, what's going on?"

Sucking in a breath, he mumbled "We can't find Elide,"

"Speak up, boy,"

"We can't find Elide." He said louder. "We think she was taken,"

"We were playing hide and seek and I couldn't find her anywhere but then I found her bow on the floor," Aelin sniffled, a little hiccup interrupting her. "I'm so sorry,"

Marion looked at the bow and laughed.

Aedion and Aelin looked at each other in confusion.

"Oh, my sweeties," Marion chuckled, resting her hands on Aedion and Aelin's cheek. "I'm so sorry you went through this fear,"

"What?" Aedion questioned.

"You're right, Elide was taken,"

Aelin loosed a shuddering breath.

"But she wasn't kidnapped. Her father took her in town to the marketplace,"

Marion moved towards the window. "Look," she said.

Aelin and Aedion ran to the window, and, looking down at the gates, they saw Elide and Cal, hand in hand, strolling towards the castle.

They quickly made their way out of the den and ran towards the courtyard.

"Elide!" They shouted.

Elide looked up. Seeing Aedion and Aelin, she let go of her father's hand, moving towards them. "Hey-"

Aelin and Aedion slammed into her, wrapping their arms around so she was sandwiched between them. "Ow, guys,"

"Careful, kiddos," Cal said before walking towards the castle doors. They were in sight of the guards so they were safe without the adults.

Aelin and Aedion pulled back.

"What's wrong?" Elide asked, eyebrows furrowing in worry at Aelin's previous expression.

"You!" Aelin exclaimed.

"Me?"

"If you're going to leave in the middle of the game, you should tell someone!" said Aedion angrily.

"Sorry, I was going to but Papa said we had to hurry if we wanted to get to the sweets store before closing time,"

"We couldn't find you anywhere and then we found this-" Aelin held up Elide's bow.

"My bow!" Elide squealed. "Oh, thank you! It must have flew off my head when Papa picked me up and twirled me around."

Aedion sighed deeply. "We thought you to be kidnapped, 'Lide,"

"Oh… I'm sorry," Elide whispered.

Her eyes brightened as she looked down at the hands. She was carrying three brown bags. "Would this make you feel better?" She handed a bag each to Aedion and Aelin.

Aelin looked inside and nearly fainted at the amount of sweets. "Perhaps,"

"However," she added, "since I actually cried and 'Dion here didn't shed even a single tear, I think I should get his sweets for going through a more traumatic experience,"

"Nu-huh!" Aedion muttered.

"Give me the bag, Aedion,"

"No way!"

"Give it!"

"No!"

Elide giggled watching the two. "Aelin, let Aedion have his sweets,"

"Thank you, Elide," Aedion said gratefully.

"He needs some happiness before he goes back to being a stoic warrior-in-training,"

Aedion looked offended. "Stoic? I'm not stoic,"

Aelin and Elide shared a look. They burst out into giggles and walked towards the castle doors, arms looped.

"I'm not!" He yelled after them.


End file.
